by Katie M John
I was just about to engage my hand on the door handle of the last door when it flew open to show Robbie, his hair down, his shirt half buttoned and a look of agitation on his face. On seeing me, everything softened and his cheeks flushed with pink.
“May! Sorry, I had no idea that you would be here.”
“I’m looking for a mirror,” I explained.
“Wow – you look… you look so beautiful.”
“Thank you,” I snuffed. “I just wish I could see myself and check that I don’t look like some lunatic that has raided the dressing up box.”
Robbie’s hand took mine and he pulled me out of the corridor and into his room, closing the door behind me, pinning me against the door with his arms, his dark eyes glittering.
“Careful, Millie will have your guts for garters if you mess up this hair. It’s taken her hours.”
“I’ve always preferred the slightly wild look myself,” he growled before kissing me hard, crushing my lips and stealing my breath. I pulled his head toward me, forcing my own tongue into his mouth, searching for the truth.
He pulled away, but this time, he didn’t turn his head away but continued to stare into my eyes as if he too was searching for an answer.
“May?”
“Yes?”
“You’re safe. No harm will come to you.”
“How…?” I began to ask, wondering how he had so clearly read my mind.
“I know that you find yourself in a strange land and I know that you want to go home with almost all of your heart, but if you couldn’t go home for whatever reason, I would always be true friend to you.”
“Just a friend?” I purred, wondering when this inner goddess had been released.
He laughed against my lips before his nibble turned into another long, indulgent kiss.
“We could be anything you wanted us to be.”
I wriggled underneath him, pushing his shoulders with the palm of my hands so that I could properly look at him.
“Millie said that you had a plan to make the king happy. What is it?”
His muscles tautened under my palms. “Why did she say such a thing? That girl is far too lose with her tongue.”
I watched as he bit down on his lip and searched for a story. His body shuddered with the weight of his sigh.
“Yes, I have a plan. It’s something I cooked up with Doctor Yaratias, who you know by now is a practically a magician when it comes to potions and poisons. There’s not an ailment that man doesn’t have a cure for except grief, the common cold, and curses.”
I registered his reference to curses and recalled Millie’s part of the story in which she said the queen had cursed Robbie on her execution block. I wished I’d asked what kind of curse she had been said to have issued – as far as I could tell, Robbie was about as cursed as I was.
“These are desperate times,” he continued, “We knew that somehow we had to do something – even if that meant dabbling in some of the old arts, what some folk call the dark arts.”
“And what is it you and Doctor Yaratias did exactly?”
“We conducted an ancient exchange ritual, the details of which are a very sacred secret that cannot be revealed outside of the brotherhood. But what I can tell you was that something very precious was exchanged for something else very precious. We asked for the old gods to lift the King’s grief and for spring to come. We asked the gods to bless a love potion which Doctor Yaratias had concocted from his infinite knowledge of potioncraft, and we also asked them to charm an object with the same love inducing powers. We plan to lace the kings welcome drink with the potion and for the girl whom we have been gifted, to wear the spellbound object.”
“And does the girl know about this spellcasting? What does she think about the fate you have decided for her?” I asked, my heart sinking.
Robbie’s eyes flicked to the floor. “Yes, she knows about it. I’ve just told her.”
“It is me, isn’t it? I knew in my heart. I’m the Spring that has come to save the Kingdom.”
Robbie didn’t say a word, he didn’t need to. The truth was written on in his face and I had tasted it on his soul.
“Okay,” I said.
His eyes returned to mine. “It’s the tiara, May. It’s making you accept the decision when you normally wouldn’t.”
“No, it’s not. How can I go home and know that hundreds of people, possibly thousands have died because of me?”
His hand reached out to touch my cheek but I flinched away from his touch and he dropped it.
“I didn’t think it would be like this. I didn’t think you would be… you.” He turned on his heel and threw his hands in the air. “I didn’t think that I would fall for you. It was never meant to happen this way. When I saw you standing there in the woods, just as Doctor Yaratias had predicted, I had no idea that this would all end up at this moment.”
“Am I meant to feel sorry for you?” I asked, bitterly. “You’re actions mean that not only my heart is going to break but so is my father’s.”
“I’m sorry, May.” He turned back to me. “There’s nothing more I can say. If I could take it all back, I would.”
I shook my head. “No you wouldn’t. You’re a good man who would do anything to save his people, who would sell his own soul to make amends for the wrongs he had done.”
“Did Millie tell you everything?”
“I think she wanted me to know. I think she wanted me to escape.”
Robbie nodded. “Then you know that I am already cursed.”
I nodded. “We can never be friends after this Robbie. You betrayed me – even though you didn’t know me, that isn’t an excuse. You have cursed me as badly as she has cursed you, however she did that.”
Suddenly Robbie dropped to his knees at my feet and began to cry. I wanted to comfort him as I would comfort anybody who was in such distress, but my anger with him was so deep and cold that I couldn’t bring myself to offer any warmth of human understanding.
“I wish you had just left me to die in that cave, Robbie. It would have been better for both of us.”
“Please,” he sniffed, “don’t say that.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Please, just take the tiara off and see if you feel the same. I’ll ride you out to The Widows now. I’ll take you home,” he said scrambling to his knees and reaching out for the jewelled spell.
I knocked his hand away, fiercely protective of it and everything it represented. I was already the queen of the people. They were my responsibility. How could I refuse the innocent their lives for the price for my happiness.
“Please, May, just take it off. Then we can talk. We can come up with a plan. Think of your father.”
“My father has always brought me up to do the right thing, to do good in the world. As much as he would want me to be happy, he would understand that this situation has stolen my happiness whatever route is now taken.”
A knock on the door interrupted us and Robbie sprang to his feet, tucking his shirt into his trousers and smoothing his hair back into its leather strap.
“One moment, please,” he ordered, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Pulling himself together, he called out, “Enter,” to the footman waiting patiently outside the door.
On seeing me standing in the corner of Lord Rime’s room, he flustered.
“I’m sorry, my lord, I just thought you would like to know that quite a few of the guests have arrived, and the king is only a matter of minutes away. They lit the beacon at the end of the drive.”
“Thank you for letting me know.”
“I wondered if it was okay for me to go and prepare for this evening.”
“Of course, Joe. I look forward to sharing a drink with you later, and your lovely wife.” He punctuated his sentence with a smile.
As Joe left, he cast me a knowing look that would have made me blush not half an hour before, but not now. I no longer had to explain or justify my actions to anybody; I was going to be q
ueen not only of the kingdom but of spring, too.
“Are you ready?” I snipped. “We shouldn’t keep your guests waiting.”
“Can’t we talk about this properly?”
“We haven’t got time. The King is coming,” I said, almost having some kind of out of body experience.
With each step I took down the stairs, my resolve wavered, as if the real me inside was fighting a losing battle but fighting nevertheless. What the hell was I doing? Several times my hands reached to remove the tiara but each time they failed to remove the cursed object from my head, and as if by some other magic, when I sensed Robbie was intending to knock the jewels from head, I swerved leaving him swatting air.
It was my fate and my curse, and I would wear it like a crown.
I walked into the room, my hand on top of Robbie’s in some terrible parody of a couple about to be married. All eyes turned to me and even though the Yule Ball was meant to be a democratic event, most of the folk there couldn’t help but commit to some small courtesy or bow. They knew, I realised. I didn’t know how but when they looked on me, they saw something they hadn’t seen in many cycles of the moon – it was hope.
If there had been any doubt in my heart before, it was extinguished with the look in their eyes and the small kisses some of them blew me. I looked to Robbie nervously, silently asking me how they had all known. He couldn’t take his eyes off me and something told me to look down at my once faded and sorry looking dress. I gasped when I saw that spring flowers had emerged all over it. I was a living, walking meadow.
“How is this possible?”
Robbie led me to the the head table to sit one seat to the left of the head table, which I guessed was reserved for the King. Settling next to me, he whispered once more, “I’m sorry.”
I turned my head slowly in his direction, cast him a steely look that told him my heart was closed to his apologies, and always would be. When the wine jug was passed down the table, I filled my glass to the brim and drank it down, hoping to numb some of the pain that was pinching at the edges of my heart.
“Let’s hope that your seasons are not reliant on my happiness,” I muttered bitterly to Robbie, whose mood was turning increasingly sour by the minute, and which wasn’t helped by the anticipated arrival of the King, who without staff to announce him, simply walked in.
My eyes widened at the sight of him. He was at least young enough and still handsome enough to induce the revulsion I feared I might feel for my husband to be. He was tall but not as tall as Robbie, and well built, like a fighter. His chestnut hair was combed back in a wave from his high, proud forehead. He was dressed in a dark midnight blue suit that wouldn’t have looked a million miles out of place in my home world. At his neck he wore a thin black tie and on his fingers there were many rings, mostly onyx and heavy gold. There was the look of the pirate king about him, an effect enhanced by the tattoos that peeped out from under the cuff of his white shirt, whose cuffs were held together by heavy cast gold skulls.
“Your majesty,” Lord Rime, said, bowing his head slightly.
I took my cue to stand and offer what I believed to be a curtsey but which never having given one in my life, might not have been. The king approached the head table, fixing me with a curious eye as he accepted the drink Robbie held out to him. I watched him without blinking as the king drank down the wine that I knew was laced with the powerful love potion. I wondered how long it would take for the effects to take place.
My heart hammered in my chest in the same way they would if a lion had just walked up to the table. Robbie looked to me and reached out for my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze, which I allowed him to do due to the fact that inside I was shaking with fear.
“May I introduce you to May, my majesty.”
“Delighted to meet you, May. Tonight I am simply James, or Jim, if you prefer. I think we are all past formalities, don’t you?”
“It’s nice to meet you, James,” I said, extending my hand in welcome. He took it, drowning my hand in his bear like paw. His eyes lingered on me for more time than was comfortable.
“Your dress,” he said, hesitating. “Where did you find such beautiful spring flowers? It is so long since I’ve seen such things.”
I smiled apologetically. “I’m not from this kingdom,” I said truthfully, hoping that would suffice as an explanation.
He nodded before turning his attention to Lord Rime. “Robbie,” he said, grabbing his forearm and pulling him in close enough to kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you for opening your doors to me. I know many things have passed between us, but I am glad that at this time, we are able to eat one last meal together and put our wrongs to rights. We have a hard few weeks ahead of us, and I’m going to need all the men I can to help me make the situation as best we can.”
“You can count on me, your mag –” he stopped and corrected himself, “Jim.”
“Good man, good man. And rumour has it that there is beef for supper. Thank you for your incredible hospitality, Robert. It’s nice to know that for all of us, our last meal together is fit for a king!” He ended his sentence with a sad laugh and it was strange to see the good nature in him when I had been led to believe that he was a morose and cold man.
CHAPTER 9
As the evening went on, it became clear that whatever love potion had been given to King James, it was beginning to work. He could barely stay from my side for more than a few minutes, and when he talked to me, his eyes glittered and a smile turned the corner of his lips into something playful and teasing.
I found James surprisingly interesting company, if not something of an enigma. I had never met a man like James before, but then again, my experience had been somewhat limited. And as James’ smiles became more frequent, the adverse effect was happening with Robbie. Several times I had glanced over to see him drinking deeper and deeper of his wine glass, his mood heavy and full of jealousy. He was paying dearly for his betrayal and I couldn’t quite deny that I felt a little justice was being served.
“Where are you from?” James asked me.
“A place called Sussex. It’s a very long way from here.”
“It must be a very happy place?”
I paused for a moment. Once upon a time it had been, but not since mum had died. In our own way, the cold winter had never left us either. “Most people are happy, I think.”
“So what are you doing here? How do you know Robert?”
“I was in the woods, travelling, when he rescued me from the Ghoul.”
James exploded with drama and I could see that he had once been a man full of joy and playfulness. “Is this right, Robert? Did you save this maiden from being eaten alive by the Ghoul?”
“Something like that,” Robbie replied sullenly.
“And where were you going that involved you passing through our kingdom, fair lady?”
I smiled enigmatically and reached out my hand to touch his arm. He watched my fingers as they lingered on the velvet of his suit, before he turned his eyes back to my face, where I had widened my eyes in feigned innocence and wore crooked smile of mystery.
“I couldn’t possibly tell you that, James.”
“She’s a spy!” James declared over his shoulder to Robbie, who was filling his wine glass back up from the jug. “Can you believe that my enemies still feel threatened enough to send such a spy to my lands.”
James picked up his goblet and raised a toast to me. “To the most beautiful spy in all of the kingdoms.”
The whole room erupted into joyful cheers. The king and I had been the evening’s most popular entertainment and I had felt their hungry eyes watching our every move as they pinned every last hope on me making their sad king happy. It seemed like I was doing a good job from the sense of joy that had begun to creep into the room – an effect that was no doubt helped by the amount of wine that had been consumed.
James and I continued to make conversation and I discovered he was an interesting, if not opinionated and slightly se
lf-important individual, which I guess came with the territory of being a King.
Suddenly, a cry came from the side of the room sat closest to the bank of floor to ceiling windows.
“It’s raining! It’s raining!” came a chorus of voices.
Robbie cast me a conspiratorial look and allowed a small smile of relief to prick his lips. He rose and joined the others who were now almost clambering over one another to get a sight of the miracle. The only thing strong enough to divert their attention was the loud belly laugh coming from their king.
“Well, I be damned!” he said, looking at me. “It seems you have a magic effect on me, May. It hasn’t rained in so many moons I had thought never to see the damned stuff again.”
After the witnessing of the rain, it refuelled the once tired party and music began to pour from the side of the room that was home to the grand piano. There was so much merriment that everything was in danger of spilling over into hysteria. It was after all an end of the world party and so maybe everything was destined to end in one self-destructive mess. I almost thought it might be a wonderful thing if Doctor Yaratias had poisoned all the wine. At least everyone would have died happy and full of hope.
And on that thought, I made a mental note to ask Robbie where the old doctor was. Surely he would have wanted to be there to see his handiwork in motion.
“Would you like to go for a walk with me, May?” James asked, as he stood and stretched. “I could do with walking some of this wine off and we can’t talk with that racket going on.”
I pushed my chair back in answer and allowed him to take my hand. As we left the ballroom, I cast a look back at Robbie who was slumped back in his chair, scowling at the sight of me leaving.
“You wanted this!” I mouthed at him over my shoulder. A rumble of thunder sounded as the air began to warm and collide with the cold currents.
